The Independent National Electoral Commission, has denied changing the 2015 election timetable in favour of the Presidency.
INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega, made the denial yesterday in Enugu while speaking at a workshop on ” Effective Coverage of the 2015 General Elections” organised by the Nigerian Press Council for journalists from South East zone.
Jega who was represented by his Chief Press Secretary, Kayode Idowu, explained that contrary to allegations by some politicians, what the Commission did was simply to combine the national elections on one day , and the state elections on another day based on its conviction that Nigeria was not yet ripe to hold all elections on one day.
He said, “Let me restate here that the allegation by some partisans that the Commission changed the sequence of the 2015 elections when compared with 2011 , is simply untrue.
” In 2011, we had the National Assembly elections first, the Presidential election next, and the Governorship as well as State Assembly elections last. There have been calls from some quarters that Nigeria should hold all elections on one day but that is not possible now, so we decided to hold national elections on one day , and state elections on another day because of the daunting challenges of having all elections on a single day.”
INEC cautioned politicians against sensational comments capable of causing disaffection in the polity, while assuring that the 2015 polls would be more credible as the Commission had plugged all loop holes that cast credibility doubt in the previous exercises .
According to INEC, the timetable for the polls scheduled for February 14, 2015 ( Presidential and National Assembly); and February 28, 2015 ( Governorship and State Assembly) respectively will not be postponed.
The electoral body reaffirmed its earlier stance that nobody would be allowed to vote in the polls without ones Permanent Voter Card.
This, INEC said was to eliminate the potential abuses common with Temporary Voter Card, adding that the use of PVC in the just-concluded Osun governorship poll has proved it could totally eliminate electoral fraud especially multiple registration .
INEC , therefore advised eligible voters to get their PVC during the second phase of voter card distribution slated for August 15 to 17 in 12 states of Yobe, Bauchi, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kwara, Anambra, Ebonyi, Ondo, Oyo, Delta and Cross River as well as Abuja.
Appreciating the vital role of the media in facilitating free, fair, and credible elections in any society, INEC appealed to journalists and media outfits to be alive to their traditional role of checking anti- democratic tendencies for the success of the 2015 polls.
INEC, however, express concern over what it called ” worrying tendencies ” of some media practitioners which it identified as : willful inaccuracy and misinformation , sensationalism, inadequate media space for marginalised groups, airing rather than preventing or moderating incitement and hate remarks, as well as partisanship due to proprietorial interests.
It also reminded media houses that ” any form of commercialization of political news is prohibited by section 5.2.12 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code 4th Edition , 2006.”
